More Sea Turtles Appear With Tumors Around Taiwan

More sea turtles in Taiwan's waters have been spotted with large cauliflower-like tumors, the result of a disease called fibropapillomatosis.

Transcript

00:00Sick sea turtles like this one have been showing up on Taiwan's shores recently.

00:05The cauliflower-like tumours growing all over this green sea turtle's body are caused by

00:10a disease called fibropapillomatosis, or just FP.

00:14It forms tumours on weak spots on the skin, including the eyes and mouth.

00:19Fibropapillomatosis is the result of a lower resistance of turtles.

00:23So there is something wrong in the food they eat and that lowers their resistance.

00:29And as a result of the low resistance, the immune system, well, then they get the outbreaks

00:34of these viruses.

00:36This disease was first identified in the US state of Florida in the 1900s.

00:41Studies show it's mainly found in areas with warmer waters, such as the Hawaiian Islands,

00:46Florida and the Caribbean.

00:48And now it's been spotted in Taiwan, with several turtles found with FP in the last

00:53few years.

00:55That's because the general conditions are getting worse because of higher temperatures

00:58of the water, for example, stress on the foraging ground.

01:03It's a bad sign that it's happening.

01:05A sea turtle rehabilitation centre in southern Taiwan has treated 11 individuals with FP

01:10tumours.

01:11That number may seem low.

01:13But according to the centre's vet, Li Zhongxian, there are probably more infected turtles they

01:18haven't seen yet.

01:20Researchers believe 80% of sea turtles have it, but it only becomes visible when the animals

01:24get weak and tumours start to grow.

01:27And there's no cure for the disease.

01:38Researchers say they still don't know why the disease is now emerging in Taiwan's waters.

01:43But some are convinced that it's due to human activity.

01:45They say the few infected turtles spotted around Taiwan are a warning.

01:57The disease itself is harmless to the turtles, but it does make it harder for them to survive

02:12in the wild.

02:28Each year, Taiwan sees hundreds of sea turtles beached on its shores.

02:32But the majority of them already found dead.

02:35Human activity is the main culprit in most of the incidents.

02:39Conservationists see the emergence of FP as a warning that more needs to be done to

02:44improve the country's water quality and understand what's really behind the turtles' tumours.

02:49Alex Chen and Zanni Qi for Taiwan Plus.

02:57For more UN videos visit www.un.org